General Garnett's forces amounted
only to three or four thousand men, then known to be in rapid
retreat before vastly superior forces under McClellan, and the
news that he was himself killed and his army scattered arrived
within forty-eight hours of Colonel Chesnut's arrival in
Richmond.
"3. The plan was based on the improbable and inadmissible
supposition that the enemy was to await everywhere, isolated and
motionless, until our forces could effect junctions to attack
them in detail.
"4. It could not be expected that any success obtainable on the
battle-field would enable our forces to carry the fortifications
on the Potomac, garrisoned, and within supporting distance of
fresh troops; nor after the actual battle and victory did the
generals on the field propose an advance on the capital, nor
does it appear that they have since believed themselves in a
condition to attempt such a movement.
"It is proper also to observe that there is no communication on
file in the War Department, as recited at the close of the
report, showing what were the causes which prevented the advance
of our forces and prolonged, vigorous pursuit of the enemy to
and beyond the Potomac.
(Signed) "Jefferson Davis."
It has not been my purpose to describe the battles of the war. To the
reports of the officers serving on the field, in the armies of both
Governments, the student of history must turn for knowledge of the
details, and it will be the task of the future historian, from
comparison of the whole, to deduce the truth.
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